Cubing machine



Nov. 3, 1936. c. A. PAYNE ET AL.

`CUBING MACHINE Filed July 11, 1935 Patented Nov'. 3,` 1936 CUBING MACHINE Clarence A. Payne and Frank L. Payne, Englewood, Colo.

Application July 11,1935, Serial No. 30,851`

l Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in cubing machines of the type employed forcompressing various materials, such as animal foods, into small briquets.

In preparing foods for fur bearing animals such as foxes, for dogs and other domestic animals, it has been found very desirable to form the food, after it has been properly 'ground and mixed, into small briquets, which are usually referred to as cubes, as this greatly facilitates handling because after the cubes have dried, they can be handled without loss and without the use of expensive packages.

It is the object of this invention to produce a simple and substantial cubing machine that will be suitable for g-eneral use, and which, in addition to being adapted for compressing and cubing food products, can also be used for making briquets of various substances such as heavy waxes, gums, coal tar products, sugar beet pulp, cotton seed cake, saw dust and other ground or pulverized materials.

Another object is to produce a machine, which in addition to being suitable for the uses pointed out, will also produce a grinding action on materials such as meats, and a crushing operation on materials like cane, grains, rocks etc., and which will also be suitable for colandering operations on rubber stock.

A still further object of this invention is to produce a machine that shall be free from gears and which shall be so constructed that, although of comparatively small size, it will have a small angle between the cooperating movable crushing surfaces to facilitate the feeding of the material.

The machine, briefly described, consists of a circular die disk mounted for rotation about a central axis symmetrically positioned with respect to its surface, and which is provided with a plurality of concentric rows of holes extending entirely through the disk. Mounted for cooperation with the disk and so as to rotate about an axis that intersects the axis of the die disk, is a pressure member having a frusto-conical surface that contacts with the flat surface of the die disk along a radial line. The axis about which the pressure member rotates is preferably inclined at an angle of about 221Z with respect to the axis of the die disk, but this angle can vary between wide limits. Spring means are provided for forcing the pressure member against the surface of the die.

Having thus briefly described the structure and set out the principal objects to be attained thereby, the construction will now be described in detail, and for this purpose, reference will be had to the accompanying drawing in which the preferred construction of the machine has been illustrated, and in which Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through the machine;

Figure 2 is a section taken on line 2--2, Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a top plan View of a portion of the machine;

Figure 4 is a section through the die disk showing the shape of the openings;

Figure 5 is a section taken through the die disk and the pressureI member, approximately on line 5-5, Figure l; and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary elevation taken on line 6-6, Figure 1.

The machine consists of a base formed from two parallel channel irons 1, whose anges 8 extend outwardly. The side, channels 1 are preferably supported on spaced cast iron supports 9, having outwardly projecting feet I0, which have perforations Il for bolts, by means of which the machine can be .attached to a suitable base. The two channel irons l are connected at spaced points by brace plates I2, whose ends are welded to the webs of the channel irons.

Supported on the upper flanges 8 is a tubular body member I3. A combined thrust and lateral anti-friction bearing I4 is located in the left or rear end of the body member, and a roller bearing I5 is located in the right, or front end of member I3, and held against the shoulder I6 by a clamping ring I1 that is held in position by cap screws I8.

A shaft I9 is mounted in the bearings I4 and I5, and has a shoulder 2D that engages the inner race of bearing I4, and another shoulder 2I that engages the inner race of bearing I5.

A gear 22, which forms the last gear in a speed reduction gear train, is secured to the rear end of the shaft I 9, and is held from rotation by suitable splines or keys. To hold the gear 22 from endwise movement on the shaft, the opening in the hub is formed from two cylindrical sections of unequal diameter.

A cup 23 is seated in the larger cylindrical section, and is attached to the shaft by means of a screw 24. The drive shaft 25 has one end journaled in a bearing in cup 23, and the other in a bearing 26 in the outer wall of the gear housing. A stuffing box 21 is provided about the outer end of shaft 25. A pinion 28, which is non-rotatably carried by shaft 25, engages an idler gear 29, carried on the shaft 3U, to which a pinion 3I is also non-rotatably attached, and which cooperates with the gear 22. The gear train, just described, is a conventional reducing gear and no novelty is claimed for it. y

The body member I3 is provided at its rear end with lugs 32 which have openings whose axes are parallel with the axis of shaft I9, and which serve to support the rods 33, and hold them from longitudinal and rotary movement.

Secured to the front, or right hand end of shaft I9, is a die disk 34. This disk has a hub 35 whose rear end engages the front shoulder 36 of the ange 31, and is held securely against rotation, relative to shaft I9. Disk 34 has a flat face 38, which is surrounded by a circular flange 39. The die disk 34 is provided with a plurality of openings 40 that are preferably arranged in circular rows concentric with the shaft I9.

The number of rows and the number of openings per row are optional. Located to the rear of disk 34 is a knife 4I which serves to cut off the material that is extruded through the openings 40 when the machine. operates.

Carried by the rods 33 is a housing 42 that is provided with outwardly extending lugs 43 which have openings for the bars 33, and with guide lugs 44 that rest on the top flanges 8. The housing 42 is provided with a cylindrical opening 45 whose front end is closed by a wall 46.

A thrust bearing 41, of the anti-friction type, is located in the opening 45 and the outer ball race rests against the bottom. A roller bearing 48 is located near the open end of opening 45, and rests against a shoulder 49. A shaft 50 is mounted for rotation in the bearings 41 and 48, and has a shoulder I that engages the inner ball race of bearing 41 to transmit thrust to it.

Carried by the rear end of shaft 50 is a pressure member 52, whose front end abuts the shoulder 53 on shaft 50. The pressure member is provided with a, frusto-conical surface 54 whose angle with respect to a plane perpendicular to the axis, is equal to w degrees, which is also the angle between the axis of shafts I9 and 50, which have been designated respectively by dotted lines OA and OB. When the angular arrangement just pointed out exists, an element of the frusto-conical surface will always be parallel with the plane of the disk 34.

A hopper 55 is either formed integral with the housing 42, or attached thereto.

Surrounding the bars 33 are helical springs 56, one end of which abuts the lugs 43 and the other ends of which abut the washers 51 that are acted upon by the nuts 58. The springs are so selected that they will give a maximum pressure of from 2000 to 3000 pounds per square inch on the material handled, and the pressure can be adjusted between fairly Wide limits by the nuts 58.

In order to keep the material from building up an increasingly thick layer on the pressure surface of the die disk, a scraper 59 has been provided. The inner end of the scraper or knife 59 is pivoted to the screw 60 in the end of shaft I9, and the upper end is anchored to the flange 6I by a bolt 62. Knife 59 is so constructed that it will scrape the flat surface of the disk 34 and also the inner surface of the flange 39.

In Figure 4 the shape of the openings 40 has been indicated by means of a section to an enlarged scale, which is approximately full size. The pressure surface has been shown to the right and at this side the holes have a chamfer of approximately 40 which extends inwardly for a distance of .36D where D is the diameter of the central section of the opening.

'I'he length of the central section of uniform cross section may vary from .3D to 4D. The discharge end of the opening from the end of the central section may be from 1.5D to 2D in length and its maximum diameter may be from .003 of an inch to .005 of an inch greater than the diameter of the central portion. The shape of the openings is important because the chamfer first of all tends to concentrate and compress the material as it is forced into the openings by the action of the frusto-conical surface 54 of the pressure member.

The central section offers a uniform resistance which results in a high compression while the taper of the discharge end is calculated to increase in cross sectional area so as to permit the compressed material to expand gradually, and in this way the cracking of the compressed material, that invariably occurs if the openings are of uniform diameter, is prevented.

It seems that after the material has been com-4 pressed, it will expand to some extent as it is extruded. and if this expansion takes place suddenly at the end of the opening, the material will crack. By tapering the holes, this is prevented.

In Figure 5, a view has been shown which illustrates how the angle a between the surface of the die disk and the frusto-conical surface can be made small by employing a small angle w.

In the machine from which the drawing is made, angle a has been reduced to by making angle w 221/2. It is apparent that the smaller angle a can be made, the easier the material will enter between the two surfaces, and if this angle exceeds 10 to any material extent, it becomes necessary to force the material into the angle between the pressure surfaces.

By decreasing angle w, angle a can also be decreased, but when the angle w is about as above indicated, the machine appears to feed in a satisfactory manner.

The importance of having the axis of the pressure member inclined at as small an angle as practical with the axis of the die disk, can readily be seen when we consider that with angle w 221/2" and a pressure cone whose frusto-conical surface has a base diameter of nine inches, we obtain an angle a of substantially 10 which is equivalent to the angle that would be attained with a cylindrical surface of a 12 inch radius rolling on a flat surface. If angle w is increased to 45 or greater, the angle a will become so great that the material will not feed and must be forced into the angle a by external pressure.

The machine above described has many uses and one of these is to prepare' animal food such as foods for dogs and foxes which require a mixture of a cereal and meats.

Attention is called to the shape of the openings in the die disk, as this prevents cracking, due to suddent expansion, and therefore results in a more desirable product.

The motor has not been shown, but the machine can be driven from any suitable source of power, and is designed for continuous operation which results in a large capacity per machine.

'I'he springs are intended as a safety feature and permit the pressure member to move away from the disk surface in case a piece of metal should accidentally be fed to the machine. It is possible to dispense with the springs, but they are desirable because if they are not present, the machine may be subjected to breaking strains that will cause damage unless some means is provided 'to effect a relative movement of the pressure surfaces when these are subjected to dangerously high pressures.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A cubing machine, comprising in combination, a body member, a shaft carried thereby and mounted for rotation, a die disk secured to one end of the shaft to be rotated thereby, the disk having perforations arranged in a zone concentric with its axis, a pressure member mounted for rotation about an axis that is inclined with respect to the axis of the disk, and provided with a frusto-conical surface having one element thereof parallel with the adjacent surface of the disk, resilient yielding means for forcing the frusto-conical surface against the disk, a pivot projecting from the center of the disk, a knife located adjacent the front side of the disk with its inner end rotatably connected with the pivot, and means engaging the outer end of the knife for holding it against rotation while the disk rotates, whereby any material adhering to the surface of the disk will be loosened.

2. In a cubing machine in which material is forced through openings in a die disk, in combination, a die disk mounted for rotation, the disk having a circular perforated zone, and means for forcing material through the openings, the openings being chamfered along their intake ends, a section of the openings intermediate their ends being of uniform cross sectional area, and the discharge ends of the openings increasing in size from the ends of the center sec= `tions to the discharge ends, the length of the tapered section at the discharge end exceeding `the diameter of the cylindrical section.

3. A die disk for a cubing machine, comprising a circular disk mounted for rotation, the disk having a perforated zone concentric thereg with, the openings having a central section of uniform cross sectional area, the receiving ends being chamfered and the discharge ends increasing in diameter from the end of the section of uniform cross sectional area to the discharge end, the length of the chamfered section. being less than one half the diameter of the cylindrical section and the length of the tapered section at the discharge end exceeding the diameter of the cylindrical section.

4. A cubing machine comprising in combination, a tubular body member, a shaft extending therethrough, and mounted for rotation, a die disk secured to one end of the shaft, the disk having a circular zone of openings, a pair of guide bars attached to the' body member and projecting beyond the disk, a. bearing slidably mounted on the bars, a pressure member mounted for rotation in the bearing, the axis of the pressure member being inclined with respect to the axis of the disk, the pressure member having a frustoconical surface, an element of which is always parallel with the surface of the disk, helical springs carried by the bars,l one end of each spring engaging a portion of the slidable bearing, nuts on the other ends of the bars for adjusting the compression of the springs, and means for rotating the disk.

5. A cubing machine comprising in combination, a tubular body member, a shaft extending therethrough and mounted for rotation, a die disk secured to one end of the shaft, the disk having a circular zone of openings, a pair of guide bars attached to the body member and projecting beyond the disk, a bearing slidably mounted on the bars, a pressure member mounted for rotation in the bearing, the axis of the pressure member being inclined with respect to the axis of the disk, the pressure member having a frusto-conical surface, an element of which is always parallel with the, surface of the disk, helical springs carried by the bars, one end of each spring engaging a. portion of the slidable bearing, nuts on the other ends of the bars for adjusting the compression of the springs, means for rotating the disk, and a stationary scraper cooperating with the pressure surface of the disk to remove packed material from this surface.

6. A cubing machine comprising in combination, a tubular body member, a shaft extending therethrough and mounted for rotation, a die disk secured to one end of the shaft, the disk having a circular zone of openings, a pair of guide bars attached to the body member and projecting beyond the disk, a bearing slidably mounted on the bars, a pressure member mounted for rotation in the bearing, the axis of the pressure member being inclined with respect to the axis of the disk, the pressure member having a frusto-conical surface, an element of which is always parallel with the surface of the disk, helical springs carried by the bars, one end of each spring engaging a portion of the slidable bearing, nuts on the other ends of the bars for adjusting the compressin of the springs, means for rotating the disk, a stationary scraper co operating with the disk to remove packed material from its surface, and a knife cooperating with the delivery side of the disk to shear extruded material.

7. A disk for a cubing machine, having a plurality of openings, each opening having a central cylindrical section whose length varies from three to four times its diameter, the intake end of the opening having a chamfered section of a length between one-quarter and one-half of the diameter of the cylindrical section, the discharge end of the opening having a tapered surface whose length is between one and one-half and two times the diameter of the cylindrical part of the opening, and whose diameter at its outer end is from three to ve thousandths of an inch greater than the diameter of the cylindrical section of the opening.

. CLARENCE A. PAYNE.

FR L. PAYNE. 

